[ayaghmour2]

While the Stars and Eagles are tied at one in the World Championship series, I decided to take the time to look back at the 1926 draft class of the Chicago Cougars. It has been 20 years and all 23 players selected have retired. It wasn't the strongest class, but it produced two really talented players that spent along time playing in the Continental Association. It is one of four draft classes that predates the dynasty report years, with the first recorded class coming in 1929. This will come in two parts, with the other coming tomorrow, as if I tried to stuff all 23 players on one post it would be even longer then my already lengthy posts. Most of the late rounders aren't all that interesting, so this first part will cover the first 10 rounds.

Edit: somewhat fitting, this was post 1,000 by me in this thread! Didn't realize until day after posting, but here's to the next 1,000!

1st Round, 3rd Overall: C Fred Barrell
School: Georgia Baptist Gators
1930 (CHC): .324/.376/.469, 132 G, 589 PA, 33 2B, 6 3B, 10 HR, 101 RBI, 117 WRC+, 4.8 WAR
1931 (CHC): .321/.385/.424, 105 G, 441 PA, 34 2B, 2 3B, HR, 63 RBI, 131 WRC+, 3.8 WAR
1934 (BRK): .280/.350/.418, 123 G, 512 PA, 31 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 81 RBI, SB, 110 WRC+, 3.7 WAR
1936 (BRK): .310/.381/.435, 140 G, 561 PA, 42 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 86 RBI, 118 WRC+, 4.5 WAR
Career (CHC): .306/.366/.434, 401 G, 1,728 PA, 101 2B, 16 3B, 21 HR, 278 RBI, SB, 115 WRC+, 12.1 WAR
Career (BRK): .260/.322/.360, 1,268 G, 4,889 PA, 263 2B, 20 3B, 44 HR, 602 RBI, SB, 85 WRC+, 20.3 WAR
Career (FABL): 272/.333/.379, 1,669 G, 6,617 PA, 364 2B, 36 3B, 65 HR, 880 RBI, 2 SB, 93 WRC+, 32.4 WAR

Taken third overall in 1926, Fred Barrell was one of the many Barrell's to be drafted, and the first to be selected in the first round. He spent a few seasons in the minors before debuting midseason in 1929. The then 23-year-old appeared in 79 games for the Cougars, slashing .247/.337/.387 (88 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 6 triples, 6 homers, and 48 RBIs. Barrell was inserted as the Opening Day starter the next season, and had a huge breakout year behind the plate. With a mix of excellent defense and superb hitting, Barrell was worth nearly 5 WAR (4.8) in 132 games, hitting an impressive .324/.376/.469 (115 OPS+) with 33 doubles, 6 triples, 10 homers, and 101 RBIs. During his 1930 season, Barrell set bests in average, homers, RBIs, slugging, and WAR that would stay for the rest of his career. His best year may have been the following one, but he played in just 105 games due to a pair of injuries. When healthy, Barrell hit an impressive .321/.385/.424 (124 OPS+) with 34 doubles and 63 RBIs. His 124 OPS+ and 131 WRC+ were personal bests, but what Barrell was best known for was his production in the playoffs. Fred was one of the main reasons the Cougars beat the Gothams, as the series MVP went 14-for-23, good for a .609 batting average, with a double, 4 RBIs, and 5 runs scored. It was his first of two rings, but as we all know, the second did not come with the Cougars.

Fighting with the New York Stars for a pennant, the Cougars were struggling in July, and a big move was needed. Barrell was hitting well, .311/.354/.433 (113 OPS+), but the Cougars GM had their eye on someone specific; a long-term target the GM had wanted for years. Tommy Wilcox. The now ill-fated trade took place on July 25th, 1932, sending Fred, brother Tom, George DeForest and Mike Murphy to the Kings for Wilcox and backstop Mike Taylor. Barrell finished off the season appearing in 48 games for the Kings, hitting a bit below average .291/.339/.394 (98 OPS+) with 2 homers and 31 RBIs. Between his time with both clubs, Barrell totaled 36 doubles, 6 homers, and 97 RBIs while worth 3.5 WAR in 133 games.

A longtime King, Barrell appeared in 100 or more games for Brooklyn in the next nine seasons, with his tenth being 82 at 36. 1933 was Barrell's first below average offensive season (98 OPS+, 97 WRC+) as a full-time starter, but it was well above average for a catcher, and his defense really made up for it. The following season he was selected to his first of three All-Star games, batting .280/.350/.418 (109 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 2 triples, 9 homers, and 81 RBIs in 512 trips to the plate. He won a title for the Kings in 1937, despite hitting just .211/.272/.298 (59 OPS+) with 24 doubles, 4 homers, and 50 RBIs. It was the start of Fred's decline, as it came after three excellent seasons where he was still one of the top catchers in the league. From '37 on, his best average was .253 in 1939, his best WRC+ was 74 that same year, and he failed to surpass 2 WAR after surpassing 3 in each of the seven previous seasons.

One of the better catchers of his time, Barrell finished with a career .272/.333/.379 (94 OPS+) batting line that was dragged down by his poor performances after 30. He appeared in 1,669 games, all coming with the Cougars or Kings, and Barrell recorded 364 doubles, 65 homers, and 880 RBIs. The skilled glove man and extra base hitter was worth an impressive 32.4 WAR in his 14-year career, and was an excellent choice for the third pick in the 1926 draft. No position player selected that year appeared in more FABL games then Barrell, while his 880 RBIs were second to just Ed Stewart (884). He was very useful as a Cougar, and if Wilcox never got injured, he would have been used to bring an ace to Cougars Stadium. It would have been nice for him to play out his whole career in Chicago, but Mike Taylor was a very good catcher for us, and he was effective for longer then Fred. Clearly a quality selection, Barrell was always the class of this group, and one of the more talented players to come through the Cougar system.

2nd Round, 19th Overall: RHP Bill Kline
School: Birmingham HS Bulldogs
1933 (CHC): 8-1, 24 G, 32.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 5 BB, 10 K, 187 ERA+, 0.1 WAR
1934 (CHC): 5-3, 4 SV, 28 G, 42.1 IP, 3.40 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 12 BB, 25 K, 124 ERA+, 0.6 WAR
Career (FABL): 25-15, 16 SV, 139 G, 220.2 IP, 4.16 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 59 BB, 85 K, 101 ERA+, 1.3 WAR

Just like in 1925, there was a huge drop off between the first and second picks, but at least this time, the second pick was somewhat useful. Drafted as a starting pitcher, Kline never developed a third pitch, and converted to a reliever full time in 1931. That was also his debut season, where he pitched 16 innings out of the pen, going 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA (237 ERA+) and 1.38 WHIP. He had another partial season in 1932, before starting a three year stretch as an important member of our pen. His best year was either '33 or '34, where he pitched in the late innings. The 27-year-old went 8-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 32.2 innings while functioning as our primary setup man. He spent the next two seasons as our closer, recording 12 saves and going 8-8 in 95.1 innings pitched. He wasn't very good in '35, as despite the career high 8 saves, he also had a career high 6.96 ERA (63 ERA+), and he followed that up with a 5.75 (79 ERA+) the next season.

He threw 14 excellent innings in '31 and then 23 subpar frames the following season. He was waived three times that season, first by us, then by the Dynamos and Kings, but neither had him pitch an inning in their system. He didn't pitch each of the next two seasons, so all his professional innings came with our system. We drafted him twice, first 18th in 1923, and then the Saints took him 11th the following season, before we finally made him the 19th Pick in 1926. While not a career to write home about, 220.2 big league innings is nothing to sneeze at, and if he was played a few years later, he could have been a nice back-end option for a pen.

3rd Round, 35th Overall: CF Gene Ross
School: Memphis HS Pharaohs
Career (AAA): .245/.291/.337, 306 G, 1,343 PA, 21 2B, 9 3B, 25 HR, 120 RBI, 41 SB, 73 WRC+, 4.5 WAR
Career (B): .261/.319/.414, 406 G, 1,432 PA, 24 2B, 7 3B, 53 HR, 203 RBI, 30 SB, 88 WRC+, 3.7 WAR

An obvious mistake pick, Gene Ross never surpassed AA in affiliated ball, but spent a few seasons in AAA with the independent Houston Bulls and Charleston Blue Legs. He spent his first three pro seasons in Class B San Jose, before being shipped to the Eagles with Tex Young for righty Tommy Russel, who started 27 games for us in 1930, before injuries cut his career short. Ross toiled along in the minors before eventually retiring in 1939. He played about 1,100 minor league games, but he never quite took advantage of his speed.

4th Round, 51st Overall: RHP Heinie Bretz
School: Wilkes-Barre HS Warriors
Career (FABL): .15-18, 41 G, 40 GS, 303.2 IP, 3.88 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 113 BB, 93 K, 107 ERA+, 3.0 WAR
Career (BRK): 11-12, 25 G, 25 GS, 199.2 IP, 3.34 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 60 BB, 63 K, 124 ERA+, 2.7 WAR
Career (AAA): 42-28, SV, 105 G, 98 GS, 612 IP, 3.78 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 261 BB, 282 K, 111 ERA+, 9.3 WAR

I had really high hopes for 4th Rounder Heinie Bretz, who topped at 46th on the prospect list. He was getting ready for a big league debut, but we moved him to the Kings for a 2nd and 5th Round Pick after the end of the 1930 offseason. Bretz started the following season in the minors, but came up for seven starts at the end of the season. He looked like the talented pitcher we selected on draft day, going 4-2 with a 3.42 ERA (117 ERA+), 1.33 WHIP, 12 walks, and 20 strikeouts. He cracked the Kings Opening Day rotation for '32, going 7-10 with a 3.31 ERA (126 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP, 48 walks, and 43 strikeouts in 18 starts. Then on the deadline, he was part of the blockbuster that brought Harry Barrell to Brooklyn, as Bretz, a 1st, and 3rd Round Pick went to Cleveland for Barrell and their 7th and 8th Round selections.

The change of scenery did not do the young righty well, as he went 4-5 with his 10 starts. He walked 26 and struck out 23, working to a 4.88 ERA (86 ERA+) and 1.61 WHIP. Despite his struggles, the eventual pennant winners kept Bretz in the rotation. His time lasted one inning, as he left his first start of the season with a torn elbow ligament. That started a string of injuries for Bretz, who threw just 27.1 innings after that major injury. Another elbow injury cost him most of 1935, before a torn labrum officially ended his career in 1939 at just 31-years-old. Bretz is an interesting "what-if" pitcher who had plenty of talent, but an arm that let him down. Its hard to call this pick a miss, especially because all the injuries came after his time as a Cougar, but if a few things broke in his favor, he could have been a very good big league starter.

5th Round, 67th Overall: LHP Mickey Williams
School: Coastal California Dolphins
Career (AAA): 28-19, 12 SV, 124 G, 54 GS, 481.1 IP, 3.89 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 238 BB, 334 K, 114 ERA+, 5.8 WAR
Career (AA): 60-39, 2 SV, 141 G, 100 GS, 924.1 IP, 3.69 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 400 BB, 354 K, 119 ERA+, 12.7 WAR

Can you believe there was a time when the Cougars didn't know how to develop pitchers? Believe it or not, we missed on a lot of our pitching picks early on, and Mickey Williams is a prime example. A long time minor leaguer, he threw 1,606.1 innings in our system from 1927 to 1939. He spent a ton of time in AA and AA, with 1,405.2 of his innings coming at the two highest levels. A starter his first eight seasons, Williams was a good inning eater on the farm, but his age worked against him. He was stuck behind guys like Dick Lyons, Max Wilder, Jim Crawford, Dick Leudtke, and Tommy Wilcox, and he didn't have much upside.

6th Round, 83rd Overall: LF Heinie Glass
School: Brooklyn State Bears
Career (A): .298/.352/.581, 304 G, 788 PA, 25 2B, 3B, 59 HR, 163 RBI, 155 WRC+, 8.2 WAR

Simply put, this was not a good pick. I'm not sure what my thought process was here, but I guess I liked the big power numbers he put up at Brooklyn State. He only started 3 of his 55 games his first minor league season, and 1928 (98 G, 74 GS) was really the only season he got much time as an everyday player. He did hit plenty of homers in the minors, with 81 in 547 games, but his glove was bad, he had zero speed, and he was pretty much a three true outcomes type player. That didn't work well in the 20s and 30s, and there's a reason Glass never made it to AAA. He spent his whole minor league career in our system, released after the 1934 season before retiring in 1935.

9th Round, 131st Overall: RHP Ben Turner
School: Scranton HS Miners
1935 (CLE): 22-5, 37 G, 30 GS, 256.2 IP, 3.61 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 74 BB, 69 K, 121 ERA+, 3.8 WAR
1943 (CLE): 14-19, 32 G, 32 GS, 300 IP, 3.42 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 97 BB, 83 K, 100 ERA+, 5.1 WAR
Career (FABL): 154-168, 427 G, 371 GS, 2,956.2 IP, 4.23 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 1,017 BB, 775 K, 92 ERA+, 33.7 WAR

While Fred Barrell was clearly the class of the position players, Ben Turner was leaps and bounds better then any of the other arms we selected in 1926. Turner was instantly a late round steal, ranking as the 100th best prospect on Opening Day, and reaching up to 29th two Opening Days later. Turner had a solid minor league career, but during the 1930 offseason, we needed to upgrade the staff, so Turner was sent to the Gothams to bring back longtime Cougar Steve Castellini, who was inexplicably traded to the Gothams a few months before I took over the Cougars for a very useless corner outfielder, Richie Marshall. Castellini was a reliable starter for the Cougars in the 20s, and was moved despite an 11-5 record with a 2.83 ERA (148 ERA+) and 1.13 WHIP for a guy who got into just 34 games for the Gothams. Sure, he had a 132 WRC+ in 150 games the season before, but he was 31 and out of the league two seasons later.

When I acquired Castellini, he was 36 and coming off a 19-7 seasons with a Fed best 2.67 ERA (175 ERA+). He really struggled the next two seasons for us, but was apart of the 1931 team that won the Championship, making the deal worth it as he started 28 games despite below average performance. Turner, on the other hand, spent just a few months in the Gothams organization, and was traded with John Turner and fellow Cougar 9th Rounder Dean Astle to the Foresters for Joe Perrett, who was one of the best contact hitters from 1928 to 1937. For his career, Perrett hit .324/.369/.502 (132 OPS+), but it was a huge win for the Foresters, as he was a bat-only guy and Astle and Turner were crucial pieces of the Foresters pennant winning rosters. Turner got a cup of coffee in 1931, winning both of his starts, and ended up starting 371 games for the Foresters before retiring last season.

It took Turner a few seasons to get on track, but he had a huge breakout in 1935, the season after the Foresters won the championship. Turner was an impressive 22-5 with a 3.61 ERA (121 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, 74 walks, and 69 strikeouts in 256.2 innings. It was the first of five seasons where he threw more then 235 innings, but Turner never quite matched that production. He continued to be a reliable pitcher, one you're always comfortable starting, but at the same time willing to upgrade on. It happened a few times, as he pitched a lot in the pen in '37 and '38, and he did quite good in a swingman role. In '37 he had a 3.48 ERA (116 ERA+), but his 3.08 FIP (76 FIP-) was extremely impressive. The following season he dropped the ERA to 2.96 (137 ERA+), and after that the Foresters decided to keep him in the rotation. The next seven seasons he started 30 or more games, but his highest ERA+ for a season was 100.

That came in a 5 WAR 1943 season, where he did something we may not see happen too often; a 300 inning season. He started 36 games, going 14-19 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.39 WHIP, walking 97 while striking out 83. Walks were what prevented Turner from going past "reliable back-end guy" to "flashy, middle-to-top rotation arm" that he showed signs of turning into in 1935. For his career, he walked 1,017 batters and struck out just 775, good for a not-so-impressive 0.8 K/BB. That shouldn't take anything away from Turner, who threw nearly 3,000 innings and won over 150 games for the Foresters. He finds himself on plenty of their leaderboards, ranked 3rd in wins, innings, games pitched (427), and starts (371), 4th in strikeouts, 6th in WAR (33.7) and rWAR (29.8), and 8th in complete games (130). With our defense, I think he could have posted some better numbers, but Turner was an ironman who never missed a start, and gave you a chance to win day in and day out.

10th Round, 147th Overall: CF Bobby Allen
School: Brunswick Knights
1928 (CLE): .269/.326/.419, 129 G, 543 PA, 14 2B, 4 3B, 17 HR, 84 RBI, 2 SB, 107 WRC+, 3.2 WAR
1930 (CLE): .303/.369/.523, 96 G, 345 PA, 16 2B, 7 3B, 12 HR, 71 RBI, 2 SB, 123 WRC+, 2.2 WAR
1931 (CLE): .276/.336/.450, 126 G, 544 PA, 31 2B, 3 3B, 16 HR, 69 RBI, 2 SB, 118 WRC+, 2.0 WAR
1932 (CLE): .263/.342/.435, 149 G, 680 PA, 18 2B, 8 3B, 23 HR, 91 RBI, 4 SB, 115 WRC+, 3.1 WAR
Career (FABL): .274/.338/.437, 785 G, 3,253 PA, 122 2B, 33 3B, 94 HR, 455 RBI, 12 SB, 111 WRC+, 13.7 WAR

I'm not sure what possessed me to waive Bobby Allen before he ever played a game for us, but it worked out very well for the Cleveland Foresters, who snapped him up off waivers. The following season he was named the 90th best prospect in the league and made the Foresters Opening Day roster, jumping from A ball and just 218 minor league plate appearances. He proved to be more then capable, and slashed .269/.326/.419 (106 OPS+) in 543 trips to the plate. He produced a 107 WRC+ and 3.2 WAR, and slugged 17 homers with 14 doubles, 84 RBIs, and 42 walks. Power was a big aspect of Allen's game, as the outfielder slugged double digit longballs in each of his first five seasons. Strikeouts were also a bit part of his game, and as a sophomore he hit 19 homers with a league high 93 strikeouts. Injuries cost him time in 1930, but when healthy, he continued to mash. The 25-year-old slashed .303/.369/.523 (126 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 7 triples, 12 homers, and 71 RBIs.

He continued to find himself with an everyday role on the Foresters, slashing .276/.336/.450 (116 OPS+), but missed about a month with a strained rib cage muscle. That didn't stop him from being an extra base machine, recording a personal best 31 doubles with 16 homers and 69 RBIs. He took his power output to the next level in 1932, appearing in a career high 149 games with a career best 23 home runs. He drove in 91 runs, walked 72 times, and hit 18 doubles and 8 triples despite a league high 100 strikeouts. It was the second time he led the league in strike outs (93 in 1929), but it didn't take away from his .263/.342/.435 (110 OPS+) triple slash. Unfortunately for Allen, things went downhill from there, as he was moved to the bench in 1933 when the Foresters acquired Dan Fowler from the Minutemen. Allen hit a still effective .271/.333/.369 (105 OPS+) in 120 games, but he hit just 6 homers in 428 trips to the plate. He was relegated to a bench role the following season with the title winning Foresters, and was banished to the minors the following year. He appeared in just 122 games the next two seasons, starting just 19 of those games. He was out of baseball the whole 1937 season, eventually deciding to hang up the spikes.

Despite the sudden downturn, Allen was a very good big leaguer, slugging 94 homers with 122 doubles and 33 triples. He hit an above average .274/.338/.437 (109 OPS+) with 432 runs, 455 RBIs, and 282 walks in 785 games with the Foresters. Pretty solid numbers for a 10th Rounder, and he actually ranks 6th all-time in homers in a Forester uniform, with less PAs (3,253) then the five hitters ahead of him. It would have been interesting if he instead stayed a Cougar, as we may never have acquired Cy Bryant, who's defense, and somewhat surprisingly slightly above average bat, was crucial in our pennant years. Allen was a very useful big leaguer, albeit one with a very short career despite relative success at the plate.